A well-known Latin-American proverb says “Dime con quien andas y te diré quien eres.” “Tell me with whom you walk and I’ll tell you who you are.” Who are you walking with in your faith journey? Often it is tempting to simply walk with those who are similar to us. Being a part of a missional church that reaches into all cross-sections of society however gives us the privilege of being able to enter into relationship with those whose experience of God is very different from our own. Within the ACNA and our Upper Midwest Diocesan family there are multiple new opportunities for a new kind of walking together.
- Caminemos Juntos (“Let’s walk together”) is a Latino church planting movement with the Anglican Church in North America which includes over 50 Hispanic congregations in Mexico, Cuba and the United States. Six of these congregations are a part of our diocesan family here in the Upper Midwest: Santa Maria (Franklin Park), Iglesia de la Resurrection (Carol Stream), New Generation Anglican Church (Carol Stream), Sagrado Corazon (Chicago), San Pablo (Chicago) and Iglesia Anglicana Piedra Principal (the Spanish service of Cornerstone-Oak Park). This year Resurrection will be hosting Caminemos Juntos’ fourth annual national conference July 31st-August 1st. This will be an amazing opportunity to begin to truly walk together with our Latino brothers and sisters here in the Upper Midwest and from all over the world. This will be a fully bilingual conference open to English and Spanish speakers interested in walking together. Workshops on multi-cultural ministry and outreach, church planting, and evangelism will be offered. Special guests will include Archbishop Tito Zavala from Chile and the worship band Kyrios Band also from Chile.
- Anglican Immigrant Initiative: This last week Archbishop Duncan sent out a special communiqué challenging the ACNA to a new season of walking together with our immigrant brothers and sisters from all over the world and launched a new initiative called the “Anglican Immigrant Initiative.” The purpose of this initiative is to equip congregations at the local level to serve and reach under-resourced immigrants using the unique and timely tool of immigration legal ministry. There are currently 12 million legal immigrants who have to navigate a confusing legal system and who are often taken advantage of. Additionally with the likelihood of a reform bill this coming year there will an additional 12 million immigrants in need of legal help. In meeting immigrants’ practical legal needs we also hope to meet their spiritual needs through evangelism and the starting of 30 new immigrant congregations. Here in the Upper Midwest we are leading the way by starting the first center in Oak Park.
How can you begin this walking together?
- Attend the Caminemos Juntos conference in July.
- Host a Latino individual or couple from out of town in your home during the Caminemos Juntos conference.
- As a youth from Resurrection, you are invited to partner with Latino youth from around the country in the New Generation Youth track of the conference.
- Serve as an Anglican Immigrant Initiative intern.
